The game itself was fantastic. The Lakers have been showing a lot of energy and focus since the All-Star Break, and it’s made a difference in the win column. Derek Fisher in particular got off to a fast start and had an efficient shooting night, going 4 for 7 from the floor.
Los Angeles- the purple and gold version- was looking to go inside early to Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum. Both were very aggressive offensively and defensively for much of the night. Pau opened the game hitting his first six shots from the field along with four free throws, amassing a quick 16 points for the quarter. He only added 6 more points the rest of the night, but was active in many other areas. Pau played excellent defense against Blake Griffin and gave him problems throughout the game.
On another note, it bodes well for our team when the scoring load is distributed more evenly as it was last night. The bigs took over in the first half, and then it was the Kobe show in the third quarter with the bench finishing things off in the fourth. Andrew Bynum finished another strong game with a double double and continues to prove to Lakers fans why he is such an integral part of our team and our future success.
There was a scary moment in the first half when Kobe hurt his elbow, and it was made all the more frightening because I had no idea what was going on! I was sitting behind the visitor’s basket and saw Kobe walking towards my end of the court shaking out his arm and his hand.
It made me very nervous, especially when he ended up going to the locker room a couple minutes before the half. I didn’t realize until that moment how much I rely on the tv broadcasts to relay supplemental information such as injury reports. It’s almost like you are in your own little bubble within Staples Center; the game is on, but the play-by-play is whatever your fellow fans are yelling at the court, and the commercial breaks are filled with Laker Girls and half-court shots. Definitely not a bad thing by any means, but it is different.
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